Tornado alerts send Sask. community into basement and storm chaser on the hunt

Tornado alerts send Sask. community into basement and storm chaser on the hunt

At least 100 people, kids and pets hunker down in the hall at Aquadeo

For the second night in a row more than 100 people, with kids and pets, hunkered down into the basement of a community hall as red tornado warnings lit up their phones Saturday night.

"It's been two days of this," Chris Stewart told CBC News in an interview Sunday morning.

He was eating dinner in Aquadeo, Sask., when the fire alarm went off again. The resort village of Aquadeo is located 40 kilometers north of the Battlefords on Jackfish Lake.

“At first there were a few little kids who were a little bit worried and scared, but everybody was really calm,” he said.

“Everybody just flooded into that area in the basement of the hall. And there were probably over 100 people there for sure both times.”

People take refuge in community hall basement amid tornado warnings

He wasn't alone. According to Environment Canada, at least a dozen communities across west-central Saskatchewan — including Turtleford, Glaslyn, Medstead, Edam, Paynton, Rabbit Lake and Spiritwood — were under tornado warnings on Friday and Saturday as a slow-moving system gave way to another system from Alberta.

"It's fairly rare, but not uncommon," Meteorologist Kyle Ziolkowski said. "It's not abnormal, let's put it that way."

Saturday's storms dumped 20 to 40 millimetres of rain, ping-pong to golf ball-sized hail near Neilburg, and wind gusts near North Battleford that pushed 90 km/h. No tornado touchdowns were confirmed by Environment Canada Saturday night, but Friday was a different story.

Shannon Risling said she was enjoying the day on the beach at Jackfish Lake with her daughter on Friday when they spotted a wall cloud building.

"She's like, mom, we should go chasing. And I'm like, sure, let's go,” Risling said.

"We saw the whole thing," Risling said. "It touched down. It went back up. It formed again. It touched down, and it was on the ground for about four minutes."

By the second touchdown, Risling was already on the phone with Environment Canada.

"We don't have eyes everywhere on the storms," he said. "We are only doing what we can with the data that is provided to us,” Ziolkowski said.

Ziolkowski said that the forecast for the week ahead includes a ridge of high pressure and calmer conditions returning to the Prairies.

Stewart was back on the water by Sunday morning enjoying clear skies, and a day of fishing.

“It's beautiful, and it's supposed to be clear all day,” he said.

Aishwarya Dudha is a reporter for CBC Saskatchewan based in Saskatoon. She specializes in immigration, justice and cultural issues and elevating voices of vulnerable people. She has previously worked for CBC News Network and Global News. You can email her at aishwarya.dudha@cbc.ca